How the US pressured Spain to adopt unpopular Web blocking law

Spain has a new government commission charged with blocking piratical websites …

Though a deeply divided Congress is currently considering Internet website censorship legislation, the US has no such official policy—not even for child porn, which is voluntarily blocked by some ISPs. Nor does the US have a government-backed "three strikes" or "graduated response" system of escalating warnings to particular users accused of downloading music and movies from file-sharing networks.

Yet here was the ultimatum that the US Embassy in Madrid gave the Spanish government in February 2008: adopt such measures or we will punish you. Thanks to WikiLeaks, we have the text of the diplomatic cable announcing the pressure tactics.

We propose to tell the new government that Spain will appear on the Watch List if it does not do three things by October 2008. First, issue a [Government of Spain] announcement stating that Internet piracy is illegal, and that the copyright levy system does not compensate creators for copyrighted material acquired through peer-to-peer file sharing. Second, amend the 2006 “circular” that is widely interpreted in Spain as saying that peer-to-peer file sharing is legal. Third, announce that the GoS [Government of Spain] will adopt measures along the lines of the French and/or UK proposals aimed at curbing Internet piracy by the summer of 2009.

The Watch List referenced is the US Trade Representative's "Special 301" list, updated annually. Spain was duly put on the list in 2008 after failing to take such measures. ("The United States is concerned by the Spanish government’s inadequate efforts to address the growing problem of Internet piracy, described by U.S. copyright industries as one of the worst in Europe," said the 2008 report.) Spanish copyright holders applauded the move; indeed, the cables show that they repeatedly asked US officials to make it.

Spain certainly has a huge community of pirates and there are many that doesn't expect to pay for downloaded content (some of this is due to rampant consumer confusion over a levy paid on blank media, which many believe covers such activity). Even the Spanish Secretary of State conceded in 2008 that "Spanish internet users were very heavy consumers of illicit content." But how to address the issue? Perhaps by putting someone from the film industry in charge of Internet piracy policy?

Meet the Minister

Spain got a new Culture Minister in 2009—Ángeles González-Sinde Reig, who was formerly the head of the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts & Sciences). Sinde quickly promoted the "Sinde Law," a plan to give a government committee the power to blacklist Internet sites trafficking in copyrighted files. Helpfully, the content industries already had a list of 200 sites drawn up for banning.

Sinde recognized the obvious conflict between her new position and her old one for the film industry; as the US embassy put it in a cable, "she also acknowledged the importance of fighting any perception that she was only interested in piracy for personal reasons, and she has taken a relatively low public profile on the issue in her first months." Privately, however, "she is actively engaged in the fight against piracy."

Though Sinde repeatedly stressed that she had no intention of going after individual file-swappers, private communications made clear that this was only a starting position. In December 2009, the embassy noted the familiar pattern of IP litigation: always demand more, but do so in stages.

"While many content providers wish the government would go further, they also believe these measures probably represent the most that can be achieved at this point and that accepting them will enhance rights-holders' ability to press the government for more stringent measures in the future," said the cable.

In 2010, Sinde told the US ambassador not to worry about the legislation being watered down. "The Minister replied that the Government has committed to trying this approach first, and if it doesn't prove effective, they will come back with additional and perhaps stronger measures," said a cable. The thumbscrews can always be tightened further.

The US arranged to aid Sinde, and it lobbied hard for her measure, even carrying her position to other Spanish opposition parties to request their support. The goal wasn't simply to affect Spanish law; Sinde's "receptivity also gives us an opportunity during Spain's EU presidency to influence developments beyond Spain," one cable noted.

Barking dogs

Resistance from locals was fierce. The US embassy, which enthusiastically supported the Sinde law, noted that "serious challenges" lay ahead, that the law was opposed by Internet groups and lawyers, and that "the outcome is uncertain."

Still, the government didn't think much of the opposition. Carlos Guervos, Deputy Director for Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Culture, told the US ambassador that "the dogs bark but the caravan moves on" and that the law would be passed.

The dogs put up a good fight, though. As the BBC noted, "Last year hacktivist group Anonymous organised a protest at the Goya Awards—Spain's equivalent of the Oscars—which saw several hundred people in Guy Fawkes masks booing the minister of culture while applauding Alex de la Iglesia, then-president of the Spanish Film Academy. The movie director had previously voiced opposition to the Sinde law on Twitter and later resigned over the issue."

Then in late 2010, opposition parties managed to halt the bill in parliament. On December 21, the Electronic Frontier Foundation declared victory and said that a committee had "just stripped the website shut-down provision from the Sustainable Economy Bill"—in part due to the revelations about US pressure.

But the government found a way to bypass the barking mutts, leaving the law for the incoming administration to handle after November 2011. (The law was so unpopular that the former administration elected not approve it after huge levels of animosity surfaced on social networking sites.) The new government did so quickly, passing a modified version of the Sinde law—judges will now have to issue the actual blacklist order, for instance.

Why the sudden movement? US pressure again played a role. As El País reported yesterday, the US ambassador sent a letter to Spanish government officials on December 12, 2011, in which Spain was blasted for not getting the job done. The US could move to put Spain on its Section 301 "priority" watch list, a more severe designation which could carry the threat of trade penalties.

Within weeks, the new Spanish government came through.

Paella and process

Whatever you think of the resulting legislation, the process was grotesque: the Spanish film industry got one of its officials into power, then promoted a tough new law backed by the threats (and even active lobbying) of the US government—though the US didn't take the same measures itself.

As for the US position, it too was informed by self-interested Hollywood sources. "[US] Ambassador Solomont said he had heard a great deal about Spain's Internet piracy problem, from MPAA [Motion Picture Association of America] CEO [Dan] Glickman and others," said a February 2010 diplomatic cable, "and asked where things stand with the government's legislative proposal on shutting down or blocking pirate websites."

"We cast our minds back to the time of censorship, of the dictator."

Hollywood exerts such pressure around the world, and the US State Department is generally willing to support a major American export industry like the movie business. The MPAA was behind a high-profile Australian legal battle in which it attempted to force a major Internet provider to cut off subscribers' access without a judicial order. At Hollwyood's behest, the US government has pushed hard in Canada for stricter theater camcording laws and tougher IP enforcement; the US threatened Canada with going on the "Priority" Special 301 Watch List in 2008 after Canada proved slow to act. WikiLeaks cables even showed that the US Embassy in New Zealand was drafting plans for the US taxpayer to spend half a million New Zealand dollars to bankroll a private intellectual property enforcement unit run by major rightsholders in the region.

That's how the legislative paella gets made, but the paella-eaters don't have to like it. Víctor Domingo Prieto, head of Spain's Asociación de Internautas (Association of Internet Users), said this week in an over-the-top statement that the Sinde Law makes Internet users "cast our minds back to the time of censorship, of the dictator."

For its part, a Spanish government spokesperson said that "Spain joins the international standard in the fight against piracy" with the passage of the new law.

The "borderless Internet"? Despite the hopes and fears of the 1990s, the Internet has turned out to be quite "borderable" after all. The Sinde Law simply tosses one more shovel-full of dirt on the idea's coffin. Digital borders, like borders everywhere, will always leak, but sufficiently determined governments can and will erect them on the 'Net. Especially with the US government pushing hard to erect them.

Don't feel bad, Spain. Canada is about to bow under the same bullying lobbying and join you in the convert & reborn camp. C11 will be blasted through the legislative process within a year if not before the summer.

I'd love to see a serious discussion about this point. I'm not sure we can really make the claim that these organizations simply don't understand the technology anymore. Personally, I'd suggest that it is more about control than ignorance.

It is what it always is, US is throwing its weight around in its best interest. Not the interest of fairness or good but of the bottom line. Much of what goes on in the world is affected by american interests and their power. It uses its capitalist arms for additional control, the consolidation of assets into a giant buying spree of companies leveraged from debt, have made the giant and controllable companies that are today. At the same time these assets are protected vigorously. The issue america had with communist russia was not that it was ruled by a one party system, but that it wasn't economically compatible. Look how things changed when China changed their model. Why is Cuba still blockaded?

Some part of it is good, in that most wars are caused by a lack of resources and the need to get them from someone else. The damage done to effect the economic system on the world is staggering. Is anyone surprised by the pressure exerted? Only evidence for what really is in plain sight, the US doesn't play very nice, nor does it care much if it is caught.

I'd love to see a serious discussion about this point. I'm not sure we can really make the claim that these organizations simply don't understand the technology anymore. Personally, I'd suggest that it is more about control than ignorance.

Yup, they want total control of everything related to their stuff, Trouble is, they never CAN have total control. They couldn't even have total control back BEFORE there was an internet. And, truth is, total control would likely harm them more than help, anyway, because it is in those areas that they don't control that they often get more people drawn to their content. Trouble is, they want to turn back the clock to some mythical golden age when things were much simpler and easier for them. Or so they thought.

Oh wow what pressure. Tell spain to do something about their culture of IP theft or you will be put on a list and possible trade sanction could follow how every is Spain going to export there German and England owned vaction homes to the US. And internet IT libertarians have their panties in a bunch news at 11.

I'd love to see a serious discussion about this point. I'm not sure we can really make the claim that these organizations simply don't understand the technology anymore. Personally, I'd suggest that it is more about control than ignorance.

Hardly over the top. Censorship is censorship no matter how you excuse it. One's pirate website is another's innovative new platform that never got off the ground because the government decided to censor it.

Look how things changed when China changed their model. Why is Cuba still blockaded?

its amazing how much things improve when you no longer have to plant crops according a political ideologe in a specific way to make the crop stronger communist Rice that went though resistence to make you stronger. But to the point you are making China US relations started under Chairman Mao it was a good 15 to 20 years before the 1978 reforms had any real impact.

The blocade on Cuba ended at 6:45 EDT 11/20/62. If you are talking about the trade sanctions they continue because Florida is a swing state and Cuban Americans espeically the most politically active wanted them and make up a large enough porition of Florida's eletorite.

Quote:

Some part of it is good, in that most wars are caused by a lack of resources and the need to get them from someone else. The damage done to effect the economic system on the world is staggering. Is anyone surprised by the pressure exerted? Only evidence for what really is in plain sight, the US doesn't play very nice, nor does it care much if it is caught.

Resource wars is an idea that has basically been debunked. For a good primer on the subject the new Pinker book has this covered.

I said that the US was looking to implement its will on the world through the internet via the new bill they are trying to flog/sell. But this isn't the us government its the us government selling themselves as cheap ladies of the night who have a predeliction for meth amphetamine and extremely bad dental hygene, to the RIAA or whoever sponsored the bill that allows them to shut down sights willy nilly for infringing content good luck with that in negotiations with chinas version of, or google(the number 1 content provider worldwide for illicit links).

Oh noes, the internet kiddies are once again whining. That sound of millions of nerds crying out in fear that they won't be able to download the next Avatar.

There are a lot of things in this world to be outraged over. That you just might not get to download software, movies, and music for free is not one of them. This has got to be the most pathetic outrage that this generation has going for them. Growing income inequality? Ever increasingly lower wages? A war based on lies? No, todays self indulgent generation only cares about whether they will get their hands on the next Call of Duty before their neighbor (if you really want to see the next COD in person, head down to your local recruiter....yeah right).

Time to grow up kiddies. A movie is not made unless their is the potential for profit, that is how the system works. People do not shell out millions of dollars in investment funds without an anticipation of a return, and guess what they have every right to protect that investment. That is how life works. And you know what, for the past century it has worked pretty damn well.

Sad reality that most of this generation will just not grasp until it is way too late is that all these laws like SOPA would not come into existence if there was not such widespread pirating. You want to whine about these laws, well then provide a solution. Your faux e-rage is laughable at best, sad to consider how serious many are that this is the one issue in their life that can actually motivate them.

This generation is just one over indulgent and spoiled mass of derp. Maybe it is time we do have a draft. Millions of young people rise up in the Middle East and North Africa for freedom, here we a gang of lazy ass whiners who scream "freedoms!" when faced with the possibility of ...gasp...actually having to pay for something. Seriously you brats, pick a better movement, this just is not one to inspire much enthusiasm.

Oh noes, the internet kiddies are once again whining. That sound of millions of nerds crying out in fear that they won't be able to download the next Avatar.

There are a lot of things in this world to be outraged over. That you just might not get to download software, movies, and music for free is not one of them. This has got to be the most pathetic outrage that this generation has going for them. Growing income inequality? Ever increasingly lower wages? A war based on lies? No, todays self indulgent generation only cares about whether they will get their hands on the next Call of Duty before their neighbor (if you really want to see the next COD in person, head down to your local recruiter....yeah right).

Time to grow up kiddies. A movie is not made unless their is the potential for profit, that is how the system works. People do not shell out millions of dollars in investment funds without an anticipation of a return, and guess what they have every right to protect that investment. That is how life works. And you know what, for the past century it has worked pretty damn well.

Sad reality that most of this generation will just not grasp until it is way too late is that all these laws like SOPA would not come into existence if there was not such widespread pirating. You want to whine about these laws, well then provide a solution. Your faux e-rage is laughable at best, sad to consider how serious many are that this is the one issue in their life that can actually motivate them.

This generation is just one over indulgent and spoiled mass of derp. Maybe it is time we do have a draft. Millions of young people rise up in the Middle East and North Africa for freedom, here we a gang of lazy ass whiners who scream "freedoms!" when faced with the possibility of ...gasp...actually having to pay for something. Seriously you brats, pick a better movement, this just is not one to inspire much enthusiasm.

Why did you go to all that effort to write all that when nobody in this thread is saying what you think they're saying? If you actually bothered to read the article and ensuing comments, the anger expressed is not about the content of the Spanish law, but the manner in which it was passed, i.e. the way in which Hollywood wielded money and influence to sick the US government on the Spanish legislature and bend it to its will. To say that such a process is distasteful is a horrible understatement and if you could pull your head out of your ass from your crusade against "kiddies", you'd be able to see that.

Oh noes, the internet kiddies are once again whining. That sound of millions of nerds crying out in fear that they won't be able to download the next Avatar.

There are a lot of things in this world to be outraged over. That you just might not get to download software, movies, and music for free is not one of them. This has got to be the most pathetic outrage that this generation has going for them. Growing income inequality? Ever increasingly lower wages? A war based on lies? No, todays self indulgent generation only cares about whether they will get their hands on the next Call of Duty before their neighbor (if you really want to see the next COD in person, head down to your local recruiter....yeah right).

Time to grow up kiddies. A movie is not made unless their is the potential for profit, that is how the system works. People do not shell out millions of dollars in investment funds without an anticipation of a return, and guess what they have every right to protect that investment. That is how life works. And you know what, for the past century it has worked pretty damn well.

Sad reality that most of this generation will just not grasp until it is way too late is that all these laws like SOPA would not come into existence if there was not such widespread pirating. You want to whine about these laws, well then provide a solution. Your faux e-rage is laughable at best, sad to consider how serious many are that this is the one issue in their life that can actually motivate them.

This generation is just one over indulgent and spoiled mass of derp. Maybe it is time we do have a draft. Millions of young people rise up in the Middle East and North Africa for freedom, here we a gang of lazy ass whiners who scream "freedoms!" when faced with the possibility of ...gasp...actually having to pay for something. Seriously you brats, pick a better movement, this just is not one to inspire much enthusiasm.

+1

I was just coming here to post something similar, worded a little less coarsely perhaps but the sentiment was the same.

Oh noes, the internet kiddies are once again whining. That sound of millions of nerds crying out in fear that they won't be able to download the next Avatar.

There are a lot of things in this world to be outraged over. That you just might not get to download software, movies, and music for free is not one of them. This has got to be the most pathetic outrage that this generation has going for them. Growing income inequality? Ever increasingly lower wages? A war based on lies? No, todays self indulgent generation only cares about whether they will get their hands on the next Call of Duty before their neighbor (if you really want to see the next COD in person, head down to your local recruiter....yeah right).

Time to grow up kiddies. A movie is not made unless their is the potential for profit, that is how the system works. People do not shell out millions of dollars in investment funds without an anticipation of a return, and guess what they have every right to protect that investment. That is how life works. And you know what, for the past century it has worked pretty damn well.

Sad reality that most of this generation will just not grasp until it is way too late is that all these laws like SOPA would not come into existence if there was not such widespread pirating. You want to whine about these laws, well then provide a solution. Your faux e-rage is laughable at best, sad to consider how serious many are that this is the one issue in their life that can actually motivate them.

This generation is just one over indulgent and spoiled mass of derp. Maybe it is time we do have a draft. Millions of young people rise up in the Middle East and North Africa for freedom, here we a gang of lazy ass whiners who scream "freedoms!" when faced with the possibility of ...gasp...actually having to pay for something. Seriously you brats, pick a better movement, this just is not one to inspire much enthusiasm.

+1

I was just coming here to post something similar, worded a little less coarsely perhaps but the sentiment was the same.

Did it ever occur to you and the OP that both issues are symptoms of the same problem???

It is a fascinating, 15 minute video describing how the industry seems to have deliberately created the internet piracy culture, and now swoop in trying to stop it with draconian laws giving THEM full control of the internet.... as if they'd planned it that way all along. Which they may well HAVE planned it that way all along.

I'd just like to point out here that the same people that pressured Spain into enacting web blocking laws are the same folks most people would like to put in charge of regulating private ISP networks through so-called 'network neutrality' laws.

Look how things changed when China changed their model. Why is Cuba still blockaded?

its amazing how much things improve when you no longer have to plant crops according a political ideologe in a specific way to make the crop stronger communist Rice that went though resistence to make you stronger. But to the point you are making China US relations started under Chairman Mao it was a good 15 to 20 years before the 1978 reforms had any real impact.

The blocade on Cuba ended at 6:45 EDT 11/20/62. If you are talking about the trade sanctions they continue because Florida is a swing state and Cuban Americans espeically the most politically active wanted them and make up a large enough porition of Florida's eletorite.

Quote:

Some part of it is good, in that most wars are caused by a lack of resources and the need to get them from someone else. The damage done to effect the economic system on the world is staggering. Is anyone surprised by the pressure exerted? Only evidence for what really is in plain sight, the US doesn't play very nice, nor does it care much if it is caught.

Resource wars is an idea that has basically been debunked. For a good primer on the subject the new Pinker book has this covered.

Debunked by who? Most evidence would point to otherwise. Why did Japan take on US if not for Dutch oil? Why did Germany go after Russia, mostly because they held the strings on the oil Germany needed, sure Russia was building armament factories at a feverish pace but if not for the oil they would not have attacked.

Your point on China reinforces my position. Cuba is still in America's bad books, not because of any swing state and issues relating to this, Cuba is starting economic reforms now, if it gets to a certain sustained change US will allow the embargo to drop (sorry-used the wrong word earlier), it won't be because swing states or anything else that the US uses for excuses for doing what it needs to do.

Did it ever occur to you and the OP that both issues are symptoms of the same problem???

I think we both understand that, our displeasure is more that the internet community doesn't seem to care until it affects their ability to steal others IP; and when the do take an interest they portray their fight as the most important thing ever. Right now people like Lawrence Lessig are running around saying SOPA/PIPA will "break the web", when they said the same thing about the DMCA, which ironically they now defend as a good law. On the list of causes people should get behind, elimination of IP ranks somewhere between saving itchy alge and Tardigrade rights.

nomadofnorad wrote:

Yup, they want total control of everything related to their stuff, Trouble is, they never CAN have total control. They couldn't even have total control back BEFORE there was an internet. And, truth is, total control would likely harm them more than help, anyway, because it is in those areas that they don't control that they often get more people drawn to their content. Trouble is, they want to turn back the clock to some mythical golden age when things were much simpler and easier for them. Or so they thought.

This actually isn't true, at most they want to throw up speed bumps that will inconvenience casual pirates enough that they won't bother; it's why right now the focus is on cyberlocker and streaming services and not on Usenet. Also this idea that "Hollywood" doesn't get technology is a myth, they do get technology and they all too well understand some technology can do to their business. What they don't get is why they should turn a blind eye to technology, and technology companies, that make money by theft of their IP.

Simply disgusting. The US forced Spain to pass such awful legislation against the will of their own people. Heck, even the American people don't want it. The tax on blank media is another whole issue - if they don't want the citizens to think it entitles them to copy media, they should repeal the tax. So simple, but not profitable, so it hasn't happened.

I know I am gonna be labeled a pirate by the apologists for the entertainment industry. My problems with all of this is simple. One (read that again), One industry is not only trying to control everything within it but is also trying to shape our foreign policy and internet. Does nobody else see the problem there?

And SOPA which is a job killer is trying to be forced thru congress. Really? Why? They already are pulling sites down and keeping them (without any judicial oversight) so why do we need this? And lets be honest everything they claim it will do has already had counter measures made to combat them. So the only result is that the US govt (read the tax payers) get left with the bill to take care of a single industries problems.

And the DMCA when it was proposed was to be used by companies against other companies. Supposedly they needed help against all the big bad counterfeiters that were robbing them blind. Only people I saw get robbed was the taxpayers that had to cover all the courts fees and individuals that got sued for uncollectable amounts.

Simply disgusting. The US forced Spain to pass such awful legislation against the will of their own people. Heck, even the American people don't want it. The tax on blank media is another whole issue - if they don't want the citizens to think it entitles them to copy media, they should repeal the tax. So simple, but not profitable, so it hasn't happened.

You don't think Spain, or for that matter any country, does the same thing? It's bog standard international politics, you use any leverage you have to try to ply another state into passing laws or repealing laws or signing a treaty; the only reason this is even a story is because the cables were made public.

doho7744 wrote:

I know I am gonna be labeled a pirate by the apologists for the entertainment industry. My problems with all of this is simple. One (read that again), One industry is not only trying to control everything within it but is also trying to shape our foreign policy and internet. Does nobody else see the problem there?

And SOPA which is a job killer is trying to be forced thru congress. Really? Why? They already are pulling sites down and keeping them (without any judicial oversight) so why do we need this? And lets be honest everything they claim it will do has already had counter measures made to combat them. So the only result is that the US govt (read the tax payers) get left with the bill to take care of a single industries problems.

And the DMCA when it was proposed was to be used by companies against other companies. Supposedly they needed help against all the big bad counterfeiters that were robbing them blind. Only people I saw get robbed was the taxpayers that had to cover all the courts fees and individuals that got sued for uncollectable amounts.

So all you herpderps that say we need this, why?

First of all it's not just one industry who are for this bill, it's the entire culture business that's being hurt by piracy. Second we need a new law because companies are setting up business models wholly dependent on pirated content and the DMCA, which was written almost 20 years ago, does not have a way to remedy these violations.

Oh noes, the internet kiddies are once again whining. That sound of millions of nerds crying out in fear that they won't be able to download the next Avatar.

There are a lot of things in this world to be outraged over. That you just might not get to download software, movies, and music for free is not one of them. This has got to be the most pathetic outrage that this generation has going for them. Growing income inequality? Ever increasingly lower wages? A war based on lies? No, todays self indulgent generation only cares about whether they will get their hands on the next Call of Duty before their neighbor (if you really want to see the next COD in person, head down to your local recruiter....yeah right).

Time to grow up kiddies. A movie is not made unless their is the potential for profit, that is how the system works. People do not shell out millions of dollars in investment funds without an anticipation of a return, and guess what they have every right to protect that investment. That is how life works. And you know what, for the past century it has worked pretty damn well.

Sad reality that most of this generation will just not grasp until it is way too late is that all these laws like SOPA would not come into existence if there was not such widespread pirating. You want to whine about these laws, well then provide a solution. Your faux e-rage is laughable at best, sad to consider how serious many are that this is the one issue in their life that can actually motivate them.

This generation is just one over indulgent and spoiled mass of derp. Maybe it is time we do have a draft. Millions of young people rise up in the Middle East and North Africa for freedom, here we a gang of lazy ass whiners who scream "freedoms!" when faced with the possibility of ...gasp...actually having to pay for something. Seriously you brats, pick a better movement, this just is not one to inspire much enthusiasm.

Yeah! There's nothing worse than people over-simplifying the positions of the people they are rallying agains...oh, wait.

Seriously? Lumping everyone who opposes SOPA into the box of "kiddies" is such an oversimplification of the issue. It's intellectually disingenuous, and honestly, just makes you and the person who was going to post "something similar" look silly.

I'm 28. I oppose piracy, even though I used to pirate. I buy my content, or, more frequently rent it (Spotify, ZunePass, Netflix, etc.). I think the pro-piracy people who hold the "all information should be free" mantra are completely wrong. I believe that content creators deserve to be compensated for their work, and lecture my friends to do the same.

That being said, SOPA is terrible legislation, and exporting it to countries outside of the United States through politcal threats when we can't (thankfully) get similar legislation passed in our own country puts the internet in serious jeopardy. It's not about Piracy, bud. It's about FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS. Things we already have. Fair Use. The ability to make parodies. The ability to share for academic purposes. These rights can be potentially abridged and taken. I'm sorry, but saying "oh you pirate kids want to complain" doesn't manage to touch the plenty of perfectly legitimate reasons that people oppose it.

I don't care if piracy is what drew people to protest laws like this. SOPA, and laws like it are BAD FOR THE WORLD. You can say "oh you kids just protest because of personal reasons". Who cares? If these "kiddies" are in the right on this issue (and anyone opposed to SOPA, as it stands, IS in the right) then who are you to tell them that they're supporting it for the wrong reasons. If I support Gay Rights because I happen to like rainbows, you think there's going to be someone going "you can't have your opinion because you're supporting it for the wrong reason."

For someone lamenting the behavior of youth so much, perhaps you've got some growing up to do yourself.

Simply disgusting. The US forced Spain to pass such awful legislation against the will of their own people. Heck, even the American people don't want it. The tax on blank media is another whole issue - if they don't want the citizens to think it entitles them to copy media, they should repeal the tax. So simple, but not profitable, so it hasn't happened.

You don't think Spain, or for that matter any country, does the same thing? It's bog standard international politics, you use any leverage you have to try to ply another state into passing laws or repealing laws or signing a treaty; the only reason this is even a story is because the cables were made public.

Crap, this is more about MPAA/RIAA pressuring another country via "do this or my big brother is gonna beat you up". This has absolutely nothing to do with international politics. And stop trying to pretty it up by making it seem that this is the US requiring something of another country.

Sounds to me Tobacco Industry all over again. Did not the US government sue the tobacco industry for hundreds of billions of dollars in health care damages (the cost in government health care) because the industry lied about its knowledge that smoking makes you sick and kills you. And it won!

But the US State department uses its influence on behalf of the US tobacco industry giants to promote cigarettes in emerging (growing) markets.

Copyright infringement requires a civil lawsuit, not a government lapdog and criminal charges. The goverment, and therefore us people, should not be paying for these companies' efforts. That's welfare and extra government that we don't need. U.S. citizens should feel ashamed for letting their government do this. They need to speak up and act.

Oh wow what pressure. Tell spain to do something about their culture of IP theft or you will be put on a list and possible trade sanction could follow how every is Spain going to export there German and England owned vaction homes to the US. And internet IT libertarians have their panties in a bunch news at 11.

Wow, way to completely miss the point.

So, you think it's good that private industries not only control and run your government, but manipulate foreign ones as well?

ssa2204 wrote:

Oh noes, the internet kiddies are once again whining. That sound of millions of nerds crying out in fear that they won't be able to download the next Avatar.